Another Decent Into...
The NFL Playoffs-
Omg, did I ever lay an egg in my prognostications on this past weekends games. Jets pulled over the huge upset again. Colts stonewalled the Ravens. Vikings made the Cowgirls their personal slaves and less we not forget what the Saints did to the former NFC Champions, ugh :-(. Friday I'll post my predictions for the Conference Championship games with hopefulyl a lil' more accuracy then I did this past week.
The Beyond-
I am a huge fan of the Italian horror film. They are shot with an artistic eye and gorier then the American counterparts alot of the time. In the trinity of great Italian horror directors, you have Mario Bava, Luico Fulci, and my personal fav Dario Argento. Yet it is Mr. Fulci who made my favorite horror movie of all time, 1979's Zombi 2 (released in the states as Zombie). With 1981's The Beyond, Fulci takes the zombie genre and turns into a surrealistic pillow(to steal the title of a Jefferson Airplane album).
It begins with a wonderful sepia-colored intro in which a young lady is reading a book called Eibon as a mob prepares to kill an artist they believe to be a warlock. The artist's death opens one of the seven portals of hell in which the dead cross into our world. From there, we are taken into 1981 New Orleans and another young lady beginning to make repairs to an old, inherited hotel.
But through her activites she activates the portal and once again the dead arise. Along the way a mysterious blind girl begs the young woman to leave the hotel at once which of course doesn't work. I won't give the ending away but it is definately a downer.
I thought this film was certainly as bloody as Fulci's previous work needless to say. The problem here is there is no real coherency. At some point the story gets tossed to the side and it degenerates into zombie-killing-humans without a good subtext to counterpoint the death scenes. Overall, if you can deal with this film as surrealistic piece, then you will like The Beyond. Still it is not quite as good as Zombi 2 but at least it's better than House by the Cemetary. 7/10
Oh and some other facts as well...
Though it was released in Europe in 1981, The Beyond did not see a US release until 1983. The film was released to theatres for a brief theatrical run under the name Seven Doors of Death. Besides changing the name of the film, the film was heavily edited to tone down the film's graphic murder sequences and a brand new musical score was inserted into the film. This version was quickly released on video and remained in circulation during the 1980s in two separate releases.
Despite its heavy editing, the film gained a cult following over the years and bootleg tapes of the uncut version of The Beyond (produced from an uncensored Japanese Laserdisc of the film) widely circulated among horror fans. As years went on, demand for an official uncensored release of The Beyond grew considerably, especially as the VHS copies of Seven Doors of Death went out of print and became next to impossible to find.
In 1998 Quentin Tarantino acquired the US distribution rights to The Beyond from Bob Murawski and Sage Stallone of Grindhouse Releasing who had personally gone to Italy and met with director Lucio Fulci (and subsequently with his daughter) in order to distribute the film. Murawski and Stallone had completely digitally remastered and produced the DVD, uncut and completely uncensored, and meticulously currated all the numerous bonus materials. In order to receive a wider audience, Tarantino lent his name to the finished DVD and it was re-released through a division of Tarantino's Rolling Thunder Production Company and Miramax Films. The film played throughout the US as a midnight movie feature and earned Miramax Films a respectable one million dollars during its re-release, despite receiving mixed reviews from a few film critics.
So thank you Mr. Tarantino.
Under The Dome update
On page 596 now...I've crossed the halfway point woohoo
A Primitive Glow-
Going back and redoing a murder scene. So many holes to fill.
Tis time to bid aideu....Watch Zombie!!!
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